Title: The AIDS epidemic in India: a new method for estimating current human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence rates.

POPLINE Document Number: 108681

Author(s):

Brookmeyer R
Quinn T
Shepherd M
Mehendale S
Rodrigues J
Bollinger R

Source citation:

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, 1995 Oct 1;142(7):709-13.

Abstract:

Follow-up bias develops in epidemiologic cohort studies when the incidence rate among individuals who do and do not return for follow-up differ. The authors estimated the rates of HIV incidence in India using a new method which accounts for follow-up bias. This new method combines data on the prevalence of p24 antigenemia among all individuals initially screened together with the longitudinal follow-up data on the subset of patients who return for follow-up. The current annual rate of HIV incidence among patients attending sexually transmitted disease clinics in Pune, India, was found to be 18.6%. The study found that follow-up bias can lead to significant underestimation in HIV incidence rates, perhaps by as much as 60%. These incidence estimates, together with findings from other HIV seroprevalence studies, suggest that the HIV epidemic in India is growing rapidly.

Keywords:

India
Methodological Studies
Estimation Technics
Bias
Follow-Up Studies
AIDS
Asia, Southern
Asia
Developing Countries
Research Methodology
Error Sources
Measurement
Studies
HIV Infections
Viral Diseases
Diseases